Mars and Minerva
In this Baroque masterpiece by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, we see a divine strategy session taking place on the clouds. The seated figure is Mars, the god of war, wearing a winged helmet and heavy armor with a flowing red robe, looking up attentively at Minerva. She, the goddess of wisdom, stands behind him in a breastplate adorned with a Medusa head, pointing decisively toward the heavens to act as the 'brains' to his 'brawn.' Ehrenstrahl, often called the father of Swedish painting, likely used this pairing to symbolize the Swedish Empire's military might being guided by wisdom during the country's 17th-century 'Great Power' era.
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